London 2012 Men’s Olympic Boxing Division Previews
The Bantamweight and Lightweight divisions at the London 2012 Olympic boxing tournament will have something for everyone. Finely tuned world champions hailing from powerhouse Cuba? Check. Highly touted English and Irish hopefuls sure to rile up the crowd? Check. Seasoned European veterans looking to capitalize on their long amateur tenures with a trip to the medal stand? Check.
Each division is deep and competitive, and you’ll get a glimpse of everything and everybody you need to know right here.
Men’s Bantamweight Division Olympic Boxing Preview
Medal Favorites & Fighters to Watch
- The list of gold medal favorites at Bantamweight begins and ends with Cuba’s Lazaro Alvarez. At 21 years old, he’s a reigning world champion. At the 2011 Worlds, he ousted Luke Campbell in the finals, after taking out the 2008 Olympic veteran and world’s number 1 ranked Anvar Yunusov of Tajikistan and American Joseph Diaz Jr in previous fights.
- Luke Campbell of England is the number 3 ranked fighter in the world, and he took home a silver at the 2011 Worlds, putting up a strong effort but coming up short against Alvarez. With some help from the hometown cheering section, and maybe some hometown judging, he could unseat Alvarez to take home gold.
- But first, he’d need to get past Ireland’s John Nevin, who fought him essentially to a draw at the 2011 Worlds. Nevin is a veteran from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and has a bronze medal from each of the past World Championships.
Things to Watch For
- The revenge factor will be strong in this division. Oscar Valdez of Mexico lost at the 2011 Worlds to USA’s Diaz. Nevin wants Campbell. Campbell wants Alvarez. Yunusov wants Alvarez (basically everyone has a score to settle with him, but nobody will “want” to see him across the ring until the gold medal round).
- National rivalries also come into play heavily here. England vs. Ireland. USA vs. Mexico, and for that matter, USA vs. Cuba.
- Ilyas Suleimenov of Kazakhstan won an individual championship at the World Series of Boxing, but previously has struggled at the top of the international stage. Was it an aberration, or a sign of an expected strong showing at London?
Men’s Lightweight Division Olympic Boxing Preview
Medal Favorites & Fighters to Watch
- Ukrainian Vasyl Lomachenko may be an even stronger gold medal favorite at Lightweight than Alvarez is at Bantamweight. Lomachenko won gold at Beijing in 2008, and also took home the Val Barker Cup as the tournament’s most outstanding fighter. He’s also the two-time reigning world champion, making him the top dog in each of the past three major international tournaments. Good luck.
- Yasniel Toledo of Cuba took home silver at the 2011 Worlds, losing a tough battle against Lomachenko in the finals. Anybody else in the pool would be hard pressed to get past him, so Lomachenko vs. Toledo is a potential gold medal rematch.
- Italy’s Domenico Valentino has seemingly been around forever. So long, in fact, that in 2007 he took home a silver at the Worlds, losing to British Frankie Gavin, who’s of course now a top pro prospect and already sits at 13-0. He followed that up with a gold at the 2009 Worlds, and a bronze in 2011, when he lost to Lomachenko in the semis. He’s tough and has worlds of experience.
Things to Watch For
- Beyond Lomachenko, Toledo and Valentino, this is a pretty wide open division. Somebody is going to break through here. It could be Puerto Rico’s Felix Verdejo, who took gold at the Americas qualifying event, or it could be American Jose Ramirez. It could even be Australian Luke Jackson, who lost in the second round at the 2011 Worlds, which is quite deceiving considering that it was a 1-point decision against Toledo.
- Kazakhstani Gani Zhailauov took home bronze at the 2011 worlds, but was crushed by Toledo in the semis. However, he has a better style to go up against the likes of Valentino, and a path leading him in that direction could see him through to the semis here as well.
